


The First Time (처음 했는 대)

by via_ostiense



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-10-02
Updated: 2004-10-02
Packaged: 2017-10-17 01:03:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/via_ostiense/pseuds/via_ostiense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuuta, in fits and starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Time (처음 했는 대)

The first time Fuji Yuuta met Mizuki-san, he thought that the other boy resembled Aniki. Friendly smile, calm, detached air. He didn't look like anything could bother him.

The first time Fuji Yuuta played Mizuki-san, he knew that the other boy was nothing like Aniki. Aniki played tennis as if he didn't care whether he won or lost, and he was always so careful to provide just enough of a challenge to Yuuta, never taking the game seriously. Mizuki-san played deliberately, and his open eyes searched out every hole in Yuuta's tennis.

After that first match, Mizuki-san sounded censorious when he told him he was wasting his talent on the street courts.

The first time Yuuta went through a full day of the intensive St. Rudolph training program, he collapsed in his room afterward. When Mizuki-san opened the door the next morning, he invited Yuuta for a dawn jog. Yuuta refused; Mizuki-san looked at him with cold eyes and said that there was no room for weakness at St. Rudolph.

The first time Yuuta defeated Mizuki-san, he was apprehensive beneath his exhaustion and giddiness. Mizuki-san was arrogant and had a temper worse than captain Akazawa's and had no qualms about giving someone the silent treatment or making their lives miserable under the guise of "training" if he felt like it. However, at the net, they shook hands and Mizuki-san smiled and congratulated him. Malice was absent from his smile, as was the smirk that promised retribution, and there might have been a flicker of warmth. "Good job," he said, and, "I've been waiting for you to catch up to me."

The day after was the first time that Mizuki-san didn't wake Yuuta for their five A.M. jog. Yuuta went running by himself and ignored the freshness of the air and the relative emptiness of the streets. He didn't miss the sound of another pair of shoes slapping the concrete because it was impossible to hear anything in Tokyo over the general noise of cars, bikes, mopeds, street vendors, and too many people in too little space, even at five in the morning.

The first time Yuuta confronted Mizuki-san, Mizuki-san smiled with his eyes half-closed and drawled, "Yuuta. I didn't know you cared so."

Taken aback, Yuuta blustered, "Care? Care about what? I just want to know why you didn't show up this morning!"

Mizuki-san was smirking, Yuuta was sure, and he slowly opened his eyes and looked straight at him as he said, "You defeated me. You can't learn anything from me now, so why do you care?"

Confused and angry, Yuuta stood there, stammering, "I-I-I--"

Mizuki-san shut the door, leaving him out in the hallway. Yuuta stared at it for a moment, then gathered his wits and pounded on the door. He didn't care who he might wake up; everyone else in the hallway was on the team, and they had to be up in an hour for morning practice anyway. "Mizuki-san! Mizuki-san! I can teach you something, right?"

The door flew open and Mizuki-san stood there, eyebrow raised and arms crossed over his horrible purple and pink pyjama top. "You can teach me something?" The cool voice put mocking emphasis on the 'you' and the 'me,' and Yuuta faltered for a second.

"Uh, if you can't teach me anything because I beat you, then maybe you can learn something from me?" Mizuki-san didn't look impressed at all, and the thought crossed Yuuta's mind that mentioning Mizuki-san's loss so bluntly was not only disrespectful but perhaps extremely unwise. Scrambling for words, he tried to save himself. "I mean, there's a first time for everything, right?" came out of his mouth, accompanied by a horrible grin that he didn't feel at all.

This, surprisingly, produced a real smile like the one over the net yesterday. "Wait a moment." The door shut and when it opened again, Mizuki-san was standing in his running shoes and sweats. "Let's go, then, Yuuta," and his name came out with the special purr that Mizuki-san reserved for the rare occasions when he did something completely right or well.

"Go where? Practice isn't for an hour," Yuuta's voice trailed off as the devious smirk came out.

"Yes, but we haven't had our jog yet. If you're going to teach me, Yuuta, you'll have to be able to keep up." With that, Mizuki-san turned and headed for the exit, not waiting up.

"But I already went," Yuuta mumbled, as he followed.


End file.
